****Note: Yes I know that all these characters and more belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. She is a god send to us all!!!

When I Thought I'd Lost You

Ch. 11

The whirr of a boat engine could be heard through the nights thick fog that covered the waters. The boat was old and worn, but it worked hard to part the waters ahead of it as it maneuvered towards the shore of Japan. At the bow of the ship, a young man stood silent staring ahead, deep in concentration. He practiced moves with a pair of sai to keep his hands busy as he was wrought with anger and resentment.

"Soon...soon you will be mine, my dear Xian Pu. I will get rid of that revolting Mu Tsu and that man who defeated you in Japan. Our destiny is tied Xian Pu, you will be mine! There is nothing that can stop me from getting to you!"

Shampoo's back stiffened as she felt a cold chill rise up along her spine. She stopped were she was and looked back behind her, trying to find what could have made her freeze like that.

"Shampoo, what's wrong?"

Mousse had been walking along the street with her and had now noticed she wasn't beside him anymore. Shampoo turned back to Mousse and smiled lightly at him, but before she started back, she looked once more behind her, something was coming and it wasn't good. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

"It's nothing, Mousse." Shampoo walked up to Mousse and grabbed his arm. "Come on, we've got to get back to the Nekohanten."

The pair had been walking back to the store from the hospital. Mousse had passed his final exam with the doctor with flying colors and now they were going back home, though there was still a fight to be fought there. They didn't know what the elders would do. Walking with Mousse gave Shampoo time to remember their past together in China. Many a day they had walked the rice fields as friends just like this. Then there would be those irritating moments when Mousse would proclaim his undying love for her and ask for her hand in marriage. She hadn't been able to stand that. Too many young boys were striving to marry her and she hated it. Though they didn't act like Mousse, they followed her all over, told lies to her mother, and tried to bribe her with threats or other lies. That was one reason why she had always stayed around Mousse and one reason why she always had to beat up on him. Even though he acted the worst while he was around her, she knew that he would never cheat her into marrying him. He had a good heart and it always showed. But when he asked her that question, well more like when he asked the pig, or the tree, or the stump, or the well, or the dog, or the raven, it always irritated her and it fueled her anger, making her want to hurt something really bad. That something being Mousse to be exact, since he was the closest thing nearby.

It was then that Shampoo noticed something odd.

"Mousse, you could never see well with your glasses on, so why haven't you talked to something else like a street pole thinking it was me?"

Mousse blinked a few times in surprise. He hadn't really noticed, but now that Shampoo mentioned it...

"I..I don't know," Mousse said as he took off his glasses, squinted at them, and then put them back on. "I never really noticed that. I guess I never really thought about it since I had the operation. Maybe my eyes decided to clear up for a bit."

"Maybe...It just seems weird that all of a sudden your glasses don't hamper your eyesight like they used to."

They both walked on in silence for a few minutes before Mousse stopped again. He knew he had to say what he really felt about it and let out a breath that he didn't even realize that he'd been holding.

"Well to be honest Shampoo..., it was really only when I was around you or wanted to talk to you, that my eyes seemed to get worse. When I was at home, or was working I could see as clear as I can now. When you would come by, I hazed over in a second."

"You're kidding me, right? It's my fault that your eyes are bad?" Shampoo stood back, aghast at his words, yet a smile played upon her lips.

"NO, no I didn't mean it like that! I mean that my feelings for you was the reason why my eyes would go bad. Not you personally! It was always me! Never you!" Mousse said in a panicky rush as he turned to face Shampoo. He didn't want to suddenly lose Shampoo over a few misunderstood words. Looking at Shampoo, Mousse saw that she was smiling at him, instead of in disgust as he thought he would see. Shampoo just shook her head at him, knowing he was hopeless.

Stepping up to the confused Mousse, Shampoo tapped him on the nose with a finger. "Silly boy, you are way too gullible! I guess thats something we'll have to work on, won't we?"

Mousse could only weakly smile back at her, as he still didn't understand what she meant. Shampoo stared at him for a moment before pulling him along with her down the sidewalk.

At the Nekohanten...

Around a table sat nine women talking excitedly in raised tones in Mandarian. Their ages were varied and so were their judgements, as it sounded like. Xu Lon sat beside Lu Xon and were throwing words across the table with the elders Hai Xal, whose ivory hair stood out against her bright blue eyes, and Pa Fum, with raven black hair and whose height dwarfed all in the room. Elders Xon Di and Xia Na, were arguing between themselves and it could be seen that the two were twins, both with graying black hair, and aging faces that contained bright and knowing green eyes. The other three women; Po May, looking to be as young as a teenager and fiddling with her bright red hair, Lu Fa, squat with age and life, had brown eyes that burned with a temper, and Po Lih, whose eyes had used up their life span and left the aging woman blind: argued on what they thought to do. It was as if no one paid heed to the other person's idea.

"No! It is against tradition for her to break off a marriage that has already been arranged. Especially when it is a foreigner she is to marry!" Yelled Hai Xal towards Xu Lon.

"How can we say she was beaten when it wasn't a real fight to begin with? It was a lucky shot for the boy! What woman wants to be won over by an accident?" retorted Xu Lon.

"Especially when we know that the marriage will not bring blessings to the tribe as both Shampoo and Ranma don't want it to happen! It would bring dishonor to the rest of the tribe." Lu Xon added to the fight.

"I know that we are talking about your own grand-daughter here Xu Lon, and we even know the fact that she herself may become an elder. But you can not put her life into discord like this just because she changed her mind! Young women always have changing feelings! Before you know it, she may hate Mu Tsu once again." Pa Fum said, trying to sound reasonable.

"How do you know she hated Mu Tsu? Did you open up her innermost feelings to find out? I most certainly think not! Even though my son is a part of this, I still go by the elders rule and I find no fault in eliminating an arranged marriage that is not wanted by both parties. How can you tell two young people of our own tribe, whom have openly said they love each other, that they can not stay together?" Lu Xon replied, as she did her best to not bring up details about Pa Fum's family whom had brought dishonor upon the tribe.

On the other side of the table, the other five elders fought about their ideas, some for Shampoo and Mousse, some not, but still, it seemed as if they would never come to a conclusion.

Shampoo came up to the Nekohanten and stooped down to the ground, putting an ear to the paper thin door, she quietly listened to the fighting inside. The reason she was alone was that she and Mousse had stopped by at the Tendo Dojo on their way back. Mousse decided that it was safer to stay there for a while, what with all the elders there at the store. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand up to them all, much less stand in the same room with them.

Shampoo wanted to know, no, had to find out what was the real conflict between the elders, so here she was, outside her own store, listening in to the elders of her own tribe fight about her. Shampoo looked up at the sky and noticed a gray tint to the sky's color, which usually meant rain was coming. 'Great, now a rainy muggy atmosphere to add to the already dank afternoon,' thought Shampoo and rolled her eyes. Hearing the voices inside cease, Shampoo at first thought she'd been found out, but they once again started up with full force again. Shampoo sighed and hunkered down by the wall, she knew it might be a while before they came to a conclusion, a very long while.

As the talks went on later into the day, Shampoo realized that she must have dozed off, because before she knew it, she felt the drench of cold water upon her and Shampoo was now a cat. She let out a howling screech and shook herself off. Looking around her she realized that the cold water had come from a bucket, not rain as she thought, and the bucket lay in her grandmothers hands. Around her stood the rest of the elders, all of them had eyes as big as saucers, well except for one elder, but she got the idea from the gasps and sounds she heard.

"And that, ladies, is Shampoo's curse." Cologne said to the group around her.

"I...I thought it wasn't even possible for this to happen!" said Perfume as she reached out to touch Shampoo-cat, trying to see if her eyes were deceiving her. Shampoo begrudgingly stood there and let Perfume pat her head, yet she did not like it at all. It was bad enough she fell asleep listening to them fight, but to be made an example of and stared at like a freak! It was so demeaning, Shampoo felt as if she was getting smaller by the second. After Perfume was done, all the elders had to have their turn too. Shampoo was just about ready to bolt away from the group and run inside, find some hot water, and run back to the dojo, she was so disgusted with the flaunting of her curse.

"Jusenkyo was supposed to be just a fairy tale." said the twins Condi and Tioner simultaneously as they poked and prodded Shampoo-cat..

"Thats just what I said when I saw it happen, but it seems that not all fairy tales are there just for enjoyment." Lotion said, smiling at the group.

"And you say that Mousse also has a curse like hers?" asked Pomade, still twirling a red tendril of hair around her finger.

"Yes, but the boy turns to a duck, not a cat." Cologne replied.

"Interesting..." Pomade thought as she studied Shampoo-cat who sat on the ground before her. "It seems that there are more circumstances to deal with if my plan is to work. I may be able to use this curse to my advantage, however."

"Ladies, could you please stop before you put holes in her," interrupted Cologne and then cleared her throat, "I think it would be best to go ahead with what we decided on inside. Or have you forgotten already?"

Condi, Tioner, Perfume, and Hair Gel snapped back up to attention and shook their head with approval. Pomade just shrugged her shoulders, while Loofah and Polish nodded in agreement.

Polish turned towards the small-figure of Shampoo on the ground. Though her eyes were gone to the world, she calmly stared down at Shampoo and smiled, the wrinkles spreading on her face.

"Go and get yourself back in human form, my dear." Polish said in a voice, rich with a deep timbre that soothed Shampoo's nerves, "Come back tonight after sunset and bring Mousse with you. You'll see what we've decided on then."

Shampoo stared back at Polish for a few moments, not believing what she heard. She mewed once at Polish and then took off running down the road towards the Tendo's home.

The Tendo house was alive with talk as everyone wanted to know more from Mousse about what had happened and his mother. There were of course the Tendos, the Saotomes, Ryoga, who just happened to wander in, and Ukyo, who followed Mousse and Shampoo inside earlier that day, were all eating around the table and questioning Mousse between bites of food. Akane had made their dinner that day, along with a lot of Kasumi's help. Guilt tripped into tasting the food, everyone there after a few bites had to admit that it wasn't half bad. Akane had actually cooked something worth eating. It wasn't until a purple object streaked through the room and then upstairs, that everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. Seconds later a dripping wet Shampoo, clad in an huge towel wrapped around her like a sari, appeared at the doorway and promptly sat down at the table between Mousse and Soun. Grabbing an apple and avidly biting into it, she looked around noticing everyone staring at her.

"What?"

"We're just used to Ranma doing that a lot more than you, Shampoo." Akane said, trying to suppress her laughter.

"You were gone for some time. What did you find out?" Ranma asked as he slurped a bowl of noodles, apparently a little annoyed from Akane's remark.

"I not hear much from elders. All arguing when Shampoo arrive. Then Shampoo fall asleep. Stupid, stupid girl!" Shampoo said as she slammed her fist on the table.

"You fell asleep?" said a surprised Mousse.

Shampoo nodded her head, much too embarrassed to admit to the question with words.

"So how did you change to cat form?" Ukyo questioned, intrigued by the circumstances.

"Great-grandmother decide to show off Shampoo curse to other elders. Throw bucket of water on me! Then elders stare and poke me! I hate it!" pouted Shampoo and then took another large bite of her apple and chewed angrily.

"Did you hear anything from them before you..." Mousse paused trying to find the right words as it was a terrible mark in a warrior's life to fall asleep while on vigil, "...before you were no longer able to listen in to their conversation?"

"No, not much to hear. All fight about..." Shampoo paused, embarrassed to even mention the topic of the elders. Looking around the room and then to Mousse, she sighed and spoke up again, "Elders fight about Mousse and Shampoo. Also fight about Ranma, but is about if should marry Shampoo. Great-grandmother and Mousse mother say that marriage is not right, but some elders want marriage to happen. That all I hear before... Then Shampoo wake up wet and a cat. But... before I leave, Elder Polish tell Shampoo to come back after sunset. To bring Mousse to hear what is final word of elders."

"Tonight? You mean they want us there tonight? All of the elders want to see us, tonight?" Mousse said, obviously a little shaken by the news.

"Yes, Mousse. Elders have made decision about you and me. Sorry I was not able to find out decision before. I...I fear that news will not be good." Shampoo stared down at the half-eaten apple in her hand and sighed heavily.

Mousse saw the hurt in Shampoo's eyes and felt his fears about the elders wash away. He realized he couldn't be afraid about the elders when Shampoo seemed to be even more worried about their future. "You shouldn't have to worry about what they say, Shampoo." Mousse said as he took her hand, surprising everyone in the room. They hadn't noticed the change in personality between the two yet, "I promised that I wouldn't leave whatever they say, didn't I? I know that its hard for you and its hard for me, as the elders are in part, our own family, but thats a final fight we have to go through, together."

Shampoo looked over at Mousse and nodded in agreement. "I understand Mousse. It just hard to think about. Now that everything is good for Shampoo, something have to come to mess it up. I worry about what happen to me and you."

"There is nothing that you have to worry about Shampoo. We'll all be there to make sure that everything is fine. Won't we everyone?" Ranma said, speaking up as he couldn't stand to see the way Shampoo was looking. Everyone answered in agreement, which brought a smile to Shampoo's lips.

Shampoo looked over at Ranma questioningly, "Why Ranma want to come? Is not problem of Ranma's. Is not problem of anyone here except Shampoo and Mousse."

"So, has that ever stopped us before?" Ranma laughed, "Anyway, we all want to see that everything turns out alright in the end."

"He's right you know, Shampoo." Akane spoke up. "Even though everything we went through, the kidnappings, the disasters, the fights, the attacks, the misunderstandings, we have always looked to find the right ending. We've spent so much time together, it seems as if we could have grown up together and still not know as much as we know now. Even if it wasn't our problem, we helped because we wanted to help our friends. And thats what we'll do now."

"Thats good to know, everyone," Mousse said to the group, "But I think that this time, we have to deal with the consequences. This is our fight and its between our tribe, you guys don't have any leeway in their judgement. Yet if you guys are there for support, thats all that you can help with."

Outside a storm started to fall upon the town just as Mousse, Shampoo, Ranma and the others arrived at the Nekohanten. Rain pelted down as hard as hail and with it came winds that blew furious and raging. It was as if their way out of the store was blocked by the storm.

All looked towards the group of elders that sat around a table at the edge of the room in the shadows.

"Come forward Shampoo, Mousse and Ranma." A voice called out from the group.

The three stepped forward simultaneously and walked towards the table, stopping a few feet before it.

"You now stand before the High Elders of the Amazon village. The fact that you have come means that you will obey any and all orders and decisions that we make here today. Everyone will answer any question we ask truthfully and without hesitation. Is that clear?"

The three nodded in agreement and stood in silence, as did the people behind them, all staring at the shadowed women. A woman stood up from her seat, the light showing off her long ivory hair. She looked at the three individually before turning her blue eyes to Ranma.

"Ranma Saotome, you do not wish to marry Shampoo of the Amazon tribe. Is that right?" said Hair Gel.

"Yeah, thats right. I've never wanted to marry her." Ranma said, sighing a bit in relief.

"Then who do you want to marry?"

Ranma's sigh quickly turned to an amount of startled coughs at the question and he looked at the elders, eyes wide with shock, wondering if he heard her correctly.

"Wha...what did you say?"

Aggravated at repeating herself, Hair Gel rolled her eyes and looked to Ranma again, "I asked, my boy, who is it you want to marry if it is not Shampoo?"

Ranma started to speak but closed his mouth. His eyes wandered around the room and he got very uncomfortable as he felt every eye turn on him. He mumbled something unintelligible to everyone's ears and stared at the floor.

"What was that? Speak up!"

"I said..." Ranma looked once to the group behind him before staring back at the ground, "I said I want to...I want to marry...Akane."

Someone started to cry in the back and Ranma could only guess who that could be. There was a large thump sound from behind also, yet he couldn't figure out what had made it.

"Ah, I see. So this Akane, you want to marry her, why?"

"Why! You want to know why?" Ranma looked up at the elder staring down at him and realized that he couldn't hide it anymore, "Fine, I'll tell ya. I love her! Ya hear that? I love her and that's why I want to marry her!"

"Very well then. You have proven yourself to us. Your marriage to Shampoo is null. You may step back."

Ranma stood stunned in place for a few moments. Turning around, he walked back to the whole group and was met with cheers and when he looked to Akane, she smiled at him with tears gleaming in her eyes. Ranma smiled back at her, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed a little at his sudden gush of emotions for her, especially in front of everyone else. Not knowing what else to do, he took her hand and stood beside her, hoping everyone would keep quiet for the moment. Behind the rest of the group, he noticed Ukyo trying to revive a fainted Ryoga on the floor and laughed to himself.

"Now step forward Shampoo. We have deliberated a long time on what to decide for you. Are f your feelings or the people around you changed since you first arrived here?" said a voice that Shampoo recognized belonged to Perfume. She realized that Perfume spoke in their native Mandarian language and decided she would as well.

"Yes, High Elders. I have changed much since I first arrived here in Nerima."

"Please tell us what you feel is the reason that you never succeeded in your route to marry Ranma."

"What I feel is the reason? Well, I guess its because I guess I never really wanted it to happen. I did get close a few times, but when I could have actually succeeded, I let him win in the end. Deep down, even I did not want the union to happen, because I had someone else in mind. Even though it had been deep down and pushed away from me, my feelings for another always got in the way. Only recently have I realized that my feelings were for real and that I could no longer keep them concealed."

"Very well said, my dear," said Polish with her resonating deep toned voice, "What we fought about the most was if your feelings were the real thing and not just a fleeting moment that could be washed away. You have grown up so much since we last heard from you. We have seen that you are a woman and not just a girl anymore. You are old enough and mature enough to make decisions on you r own about your life. You no longer need to heed to the rules and ordinances made by any previous fights that would bind you to anyone by way of winning or losing the fight."

"Thank you Elder Polish."

Shampoo stepped back and sighed in relief. She glanced over at Mousse beside her and saw him flash her a reassuring smile.

Condi and Tioner spoke up then at the same time, "We have just one question for Mousse."

Mousse looked towards the aging twin elders, his glasses hiding the glint of fear in his eyes.

"We must ask you Mousse, do you regret becoming sick and having the tumor that brought you so close to death?"

Mousse blinked in surprise. This wasn't what he was expecting. He looked to Shampoo once before turning to the elders

"I do regret it and at the same time I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I got sick, everyday was the same. I tolerated it and lived with it. I could have lived that way for the rest of my life if I had to. When I got sick, everything changed around here and it was all because of me. I regret becoming sick because I caused my friends and family to worry about me. I even caused my mother to worry so much about me, she had to cross over into another country just to find me. But then...," Mousse paused to think back, "I don't regret it because of everything that did change. If none of this had happened, I wouldn't have been able to see that I had real friends here, not just enemies. I also wouldn't have found out that the person I love the most loved me too. I'm almost grateful that I got that tumor. Even though all the turmoil it caused in my past, I wouldn't change anything thats happened. The only wish that I have now, is to stay with Shampoo, as I have promised her."

The room stood in silence after Mousse finished speaking. Pomade squirmed in her seat, she was not liking this one bit. She had a plan that wasn't going to be ruined, not by the rest of the elders or this sickening scene between Mousse and Shampoo.

Speaking up, Pomade stared down at the two, "What if there was a hindrance that caused you to fail in your wishes, what would you do then?"

"What do you mean?"

"If something got in the way of your wishes, such as another person or an unknown foe happened, what would you see in your future for the both of you?"

"We would always win over whatever got in our way. Many times, other people and unknown foes have gotten in our way, but we always overcame them. With the help of the people that care for us as friends, no foe can stand up against us. Plus, if anyone or thing tries to separate Shampoo from me, I will take my revenge!"

"Oh, really? You are so sure you will win over anything?" Pomade hissed at them and leaned over the table towards the pair.

The front door shot open, startling everyone inside the store, to unveil a shadow in the storm's rain. Lighting flashed behind the figure once and it was almost as if the lighting had been called forth, the figure seemed so menacing. Pomade instantly knew who it was and an malevolent grin spread across her face and she sat down in her seat again.

"Hello, Xian Pu, High Elders,... Mu Tsu." the figure said with a tone of resentment not well hidden behind his accent.

The figure then stepped inside and revealed a young man, wearing a malicious grin on his face. The boy stood nearly five and a half feet tall, dwarfing some in the room. His hair, black with a deep tint of dark red, was short and cut close to his head. He wore a long sleeveless teal robe, with a split on both sides starting at the torso, along with pair of dark blue shirt and pants that were the same style of Ranma's. He had an orange wrap around his waist that trailed behind him and which holstered a pair of three pronged sai.

Shampoo stared at the boy for a moment, not wanting to see what was before her. Stepping back, she exclaimed, "Xon...Xon Na! What are you doing here?!"

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Hello all!!,

Finally another chapter up! Took forever to finish now that I'm working 6 days a week, nearly 11 hours a day at an amusement park. Totally tiring and exhausting! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I had a lot of ideas that I tried to fit in this one, but it seemed that I crammed enough into it already.

So, who do you think this new boy is? Hmmm? Well I will tell you that he is Pomade's son. Pomade is an older woman, probably about in her fifty's yet she has been able to keep her youthful appearance by way of ancient remedies and a few well placed spells. She is not favored very well by the other elders, but since one can not leave their elder rank except only by death, she stays with them. You will see more of her plan in the next chapters and why she hates the union of Shampoo and Mousse. I wonder how many chapters this will take to end?

And to those that don't like this pairing or my story - May an obelisk fall on your head! If you don't like it, DON'T READ IT!!


Thanks so much for your support to everyone else! Hopefully my two Inuyasha stories will be up soon!!


/\ _/\ (\/) cyancat